Jazzing Up Pumpkins

This year we had a lot of fun with pumpkins.   And by "a lot of fun" I mean Mike and I did all the work and the kids had all the fun.  Haley painted this pumpkin at her art class.  It is a skeleton.  Looks like it has a couple of blacked-out teeth.

This is Mike's creation.  We watched a show on the food network about carving pumpkins and he saw people carving the flesh without cutting holes in the pumpkin.  So, that is what he decided to do.  I think it turned out pretty cool.

Here is Haley's.  And by Haley's I mean that she picked out the design and Mike did all the carving.  

And here is mine, oh, I mean Maya's.  Pay no attention to the disfigurement of that poor spider.  She lost part of a leg.

New Look!

I love the new look of my blog.  I wish I could print it out and make curtains or pillows out of it!

Decastified

My cute Maya got her casts off on Monday.  Right after they took them off, the physical therapist lowered Maya onto the ground from the exam table and Maya almost fell down!  She was pretty wobbly.  She even said, "I think I need to put my casts back on."  It has been 3 days now and she is doing great.  Her walking motion isn't very fluid yet.  She still clomps around, or even shuffles a bit, like she is wearing casts.  But, she isn't walking up on her toes.  She had gymnastics on Tuesday, the day after she got the casts off, and I saw her go up on her toes once.  She was walking up an inclined mat.  Now I know I often go up on my toes when I walk up things, especially the stairs, so I hope that was a normal and okay thing.  I haven't seen her do it since.

Her calfs are about half the size they used to be.  Sometimes she complains that her ankles or heels hurt.  I think it will take a while to get her strength and fluid motion back.
She said after her casts were off, "My feet are free!"  However, she doesn't pronounce the "f" sound well so it sounded like, "My peet are pree!"

A fun trip to a Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we took a trip to a pumpkin patch.  It was sunny and warm!  We went with fun friends Wes, Cath, and baby Jake (I think my girls will always call him baby Jake even when he's five).  They had some carnival type rides the girls loved.

Look at all the fun things you can still do with casts on!

You have to take these pictures or you are a bad parent.

Look!  Real pumpkins!  Maya had dirt between her toes after tramping through this pumpkin patch with her casts on.

I got to carry Caleb in the backpack since Mike's back hurt.  Now my back hurts too.  That kid weighs 25 pounds.  That is as much as a 2 year old.  Learn to walk boy!

The Worst Pumpkin Patch Trip Ever

On the Wednesday following our fun family trip on Saturday, Maya's preschool class took a field trip to a pumpkin patch.  We had just been, but I thought, you can't get enough of the pumpkin patch, right?  This isn't a load the yellow school bus kind of field trip.   Parents are the transportation.  So, Haley was off-track and I loaded up all 3 kids and we drove 1 hour north to this farm/pumpkin patch.  I knew it was going to be cold before we went, but it was also going to be sunny, and that helps a lot.  I had to go to Target the night before to get Caleb a hat and gloves.  So we get there and it isn't just cold (about 35 degrees) it is WINDY.  Like blow your 3 year old over windy.  Plus, we were told to be there at 9:30 AM.  I was there right on time, only to discover that we were told to be there at 9:30 to give time for all the late folks to get there by 10:00.  So we stood outside waiting for 30 minutes before we got started.  Why do I have to suffer for being responsible?  Then we piled into some sort of tractor garage and an employee told us about the things they grow on the farm.  Then we jumped on a wagon/tractor ride to the pumpkin patch.  Now, I don't think there were actually any pumpkins in the patch.  Just small gourds.  So we all picked out a greenish, bumpy gourd and then got back on the wagon.  Mind you all this time the wind is blowing us over and blowing dirt in our eyes.  And Caleb literally cried from the minute we exited the car.  He was miserable.  We were then on our way to the farm/play area.  They had some animals to see and kid activities.  We scarfed down some animal crackers that actually quieted Caleb down, but then Haley started crying about being cold.  We glanced at the animals on our way out.  I load the kids in the car and realize I have forgotten our wagon back at where we got on the big wagon/tractor.  So, a friend watches the kids while I run back and find that the wagon is gone.  I find an employee and she tells me they moved it over to the farm/play area so we would have it when we got off the wagon/tractor!  Thanks for telling me!  Now I have to go back there, grab the wagon and then go all the way back to the car.  Despite the frigid weather, I was sweating when I got back.  I brought the camera but never had a second to take a picture.  All my time was spent holding a bawling 1 year old and wiping his nose with my gloves because my kleenex blew away. 

Butterflies!

We have a giant, wild, and unruly bush in front of our house.  We also have one in the back, but it is a little more tame.  I don't even know what kind of bush it is.  It is very common here with the desert landscaping theme that most people have.  Anyway, I really don't like this bush, but it blossoms in the early fall and attracts butterflies like crazy.  This bush literally had 50 butterflies on it.  We went outside to hang bird feeders that Haley and Maya had made at Haley's fall party at school and the butterflies swarmed us.  It was pretty cool.  And slightly scary.  I should have put in my previous post that I do have a totally ridiculous fear of butterflies.

6 random things about me - I've been tagged!

My friend Rachel tagged me.  How exciting.  The first time I have been tagged.  So, here we go.

1.  I have a really bad memory.  I love to read but forget the plots and details about books very soon after I read them.  I often don't even remember if I've read the book period.  Reading is like an escape for me.  I do it to get away from my real life of diaper, dishes, and dirty clothes.  I'm not reading to write a book report or discuss it.  

2.  I had 4 different jobs while I was at BYU.  My first job was at the Cannon Center, the cafeteria for Helaman Halls.  I served food and then cleaned up.  My least glamorous job ever.  Then I worked as a janitor at the HFAC (Harris Fine Arts Center).  Vacuumed,  emptied trash cans, cleaned chalk boards, dusted.  At least I didn't have to do bathrooms.  This job also began at 4:30 AM and went until 7:30 AM.  Second least glamorous job ever.  Then I got a job as a teacher's aide in an elementary school in Provo (can't for the life of me remember the name of the school, darn memory).  I worked in the special ed room and had kids of my own that I taught.  I even had my name on a plaque outside the door.  Pretty cool for a kid still in college.  A lot of the kids there spoke Spanish as their first language.  My most memorable moment was when one little boy told me "Miss Harvey, you drive a cool car, man."  Imagine that said with a spanish accent.  My maiden name was Hardy and I drove a Saturn.  My last job was for the telefund.  I got to call alumni and ask them for money.  It was actually a really fun job and we had the best boss who would take us to Wendy's for Frostys if we met our goal that night.  I even got promoted to assistant supervisor!  Which meant I got to listen into other people's calls and tell them what they were doing right and wrong.  So, now when I get those calls as a BYU alumni, I always pledge.

3.  I don't have a lot of simple addition and subtraction math facts memorized.  Like 6 + 8, hmm, I'd have to think about it.  In elementary school I was taught to imagine dots on the numbers and then count them to add or subtract.  We were never required to memorize.  So, I am a 29 year old who doesn't know what 6 + 8 is without imagining it in my head with dots on it and counting them up.

4.  I bought a car before my sophomore year at BYU with the help of my parents.  It was that cool Saturn I talked about before.  The funny thing is that it was a manual transmission, and I had no idea how to drive a stick.  Isn't that a great idea, to buy a car you don't know how to drive?  I think my parents have some great video of me learning.

5.  I got married when I was ....... 19!  

6.  For the past year, I have been craving anything with pumpkin in it.  It all started when Caleb was born.  My friend Rachel brought me some pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.  I ate 3/4 of the loaf.  My mom, while she was staying with us when Caleb was born, made pumpkin cheesecake.  Since then, about once a month I've got to make something with pumpkin, whether its bread, cookies, or bars.  Man, I love it.  

Okay, now is the part where I'm supposed to tag other people.  Seeing that I've been blogging for like 1 month, and I think 3 people read my blog, this might be interesting.  Here it goes, Libby, Amy Simiskey, Amy Fish, Janna, Tracy, and Kara.

We'll see how that goes.

The Birthday Celebration

I made this "cake" for Caleb's birthday.  As you can see it is just cupcakes in the shape of a number 1.  You can barely tell that I put his name on the bottom row of cupcakes.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out and it couldn't have been easier.  When Haley turned 1 I felt the need to make the cake and frosting from scratch.  Let me tell you, it was not as good as a boxed cake mix and frosting out of a tub.  I won't ever make that mistake again.
Caleb enjoyed his cupcake.  He is not much of a mess in this picture, but he did end of breaking the cupcake into lots of little pieces and swiping them off his tray.  He loved the frosting the best.
Here is the whole family.  We couldn't get Caleb to smile for any picture!  He got lots of fun presents.  Clothes, toys, books.  He got a little basketball hoop which the girls loved.  It is set up in our empty dining room.  Maya kept doing slam dunks and yelling "touchdown"!  

Evolution of a Baby

Today is Caleb's first birthday.  Look at how big that boy is.  I caught him practicing his new trick, climbing the stairs.  I try to let him when I have a second to follow him up.  He has been slow with his gross motor skills, so I need to let him practice.  But he has made giant strides in the last few weeks.  He has started crawling on his knees (he was still just army crawling before), pulling up to furniture, and now climbing stairs.  He likes to try to walk between Mike and I, and has taken a few steps on his own.  We are so proud of him.

I keep thinking to myself "last year at this time I was..."  I was admitted to the hospital the night before he was born.  I was strep B positive, and they wanted to make sure I got antibiotics before he was born.  My labor with Maya was only 4 hours, so they were concerned I wouldn't have enough time for antibiotics.  So, we got to the hospital at about 8 pm and they gave me an iv of fluids and antibiotics.  Mike went right to sleep but I was up all night peeing.  They really gave me a lot of fluids!  Literally every 20 to 30 minutes I had to go.  At about 3 or 4ish I started having contractions.  Now, they were supposed to induce me in the morning, so this was pretty funny.  After a few, I woke Mike up and we called a nurse.  If I remember right they checked me and I was a 6, so they thought things might go fast.  My doctor couldn't come in because she was at home with her kids while her husband was at the hospital giving me my epidural!  It was a good one too.  I took a drink while I was lying flat and coughed and that broke my water!  So, then they really thought it was going to go fast and they brought in all the birthing stuff.  But then it kinda slowed down.  My doctor came in around 9ish and then I finally had Caleb at 9:57.  He was 8lb 11oz and 21 1/2 inches long.  Giant baby!

Look at how he has grown!  Sure love this guy.  He brings a lot of joy into our home.  I can't believe he is one year old now!  We are actually going to celebrate tomorrow since I have a young women's activity tonight and Mike can't get home early enough to party it up before I have to leave.  The girls are a little concerned about this, but I don't think Caleb will mind.

Chuck E. Cheese

Every month, Maya's preschool class takes a field trip.  In September, the field trip was to Chuck E. Cheese.  I wasn't really excited about going.  Usually it is a packed mad house.  And usually you see some poor child getting smacked around or yelled at by a parent.  At least that is my usual experience.  But Maya really wanted to go.  So, we went and it was actually great.  It was mostly empty except for her class.  We did some fun rides and Maya and Caleb had a blast.

I don't know how I got lucky enough to get Caleb's face in this picture.  Hilarious.

New Casts

This cute little girl got new casts this week.  These are the last casts (hopefully) and after she gets them off in 2 weeks, we will be back to normal!  I am praying she doesn't go right back to tippy toe walking.  
Life hasn't been too tough in casts.  Baths are a little more difficult.  But, the one great thing is no shoes!  She has little strap on sandal type shoes she wears with her casts.  We are usually a no shoes in the house family, but she slides all over on the hard wood floors without them on.  So, she always has her shoes on (except in the pictures!) and we don't have to look for and then put on shoes every time we leave the house.  It is great. 

A Sleepover!

Over a month ago the kids got to have a sleepover since the parents of their friends were going out of town.  The kids thought it was awesome fun.  We took a trip to the butterfly house.  Someone did stop us and ask if all the kids were ours!  Here are the cute kids.  They could all pass as siblings.

We saw lots of beautiful butterflies like these.

There was also a room with lots of different bugs in cages.  There was an employee with a tarantula out, allowing kids to hold it.  Out of all the kids, Haley wanted to do it, which was a total shocker.  She is our child with the most anxiety.  She is scared of lots of things.  So, I was very proud of her for trying this out.  I wasn't about to get near it!

Labor Day Beach Trip

We spent the last day of summer at the beach!  The girls had lots of fun playing in the sand and the water wasn't too cold.

We had a picnic, which makes any outing a success in the girl's eyes.
And Caleb ate a lot of sand.  I kept finding more in his diaper for days after.

Colorado Springs Part 2 - Garden of the Gods

The girls.

While we were in Colorado Springs we also went to Garden of the Gods, which was absolutely beautiful.  It is a city park with lots of gorgeous rock formations.

The girls did a lot of climbing.

This is supposed to look like 2 camels kissing.  Do you see it?

The boys.